©Atsushi Fukunaga
Photo: Ken KATO

17th Art Division Jury Selections

The hurly-burly chorus – Urban symphony in Sumida and Asakusa

Interactive art, Sound installation

FUKUNAGA Atsushi [Japan]

Outline

80 members of the public par ticipated in imitating the sounds of Sumida and Asakusa in Tokyo, such as birds, insects and other noises of nature, as well as the bustle of daily life. The installation was a surround sound system filling the space with layers of these swirling “voices” in the darkness, perceptually changing our linguistic sensibilities. It presented a new language created by onomatopoeia, which is a richly developed part of the Japanese tongue.